1. Field of the Invention (Technical Field)
The present invention relates to apparatuses and environments for testing devices subjected to high levels of shock.
2. Description of Related Art
Currently, there does not exist a means of replicating the shock environment produced during a Hardened and Deeply Buried Targets (HDBT) penetration event. The magnitude, duration, and multiple +/− shocks encountered during these events are currently only replicated through full scale sled tests that can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars per test. This results in either very expensive weapon system development cost due to multiple tests, or low/no confidence in component reliability due to limited testing. This apparatus may also be used to produce high shocks for the testing of other items that are subjected to large shocks such as aircraft flight data recorders,
The present invention substantially replicates the HDBT penetration environment with a piece of lab suitable equipment that reduces test costs up to two orders of magnitude. The invention uses the high power storage and control methods utilized in high power rail/coil gun and pulsed laser applications to electromagnetically generate the multi-direction shock pulses representative of HDBT penetrations.